The present invention relates to bed side rails, and particularly to side rails for a hospital bed or a patient-care bed. More particularly, the present invention relates to side rails for a hospital bed or a patient-care bed which is convertible to a chair so that the bed can be manipulated to achieve both a conventional bed position having a horizontal sleeping surface and a sitting position having the feet of the person on or adjacent to the floor and the head and back of the person supported above a seat formed by the bed.
Many hospital beds are positionable to a configuration having the sleeping surface of the bed at a predetermined height above the floor and having side rails positioned to restrain the movement of a person lying on the sleeping surface past sides of the sleeping surface and off of the bed. The sleeping surfaces of many such hospital beds can typically be lowered to reduce the distance between the sleeping surface and the floor, and the sleeping surfaces of such beds can often be manipulated to adjust the position of the person on the sleeping surface. In addition, the side rails of these hospital beds can typically be moved to a position away from the sleeping surface to facilitate movement of the person on the sleeping surface from the supine position on the sleeping surface to a standing position on the floor near the bed.
Beds and examination tables having side rails to restrain the movement of the person on the support surfaces thereof past the sides of the support surfaces are known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,843 to Foster L. Dale et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,800 to Borders, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,177 to Celestina et al., all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,010 to Ferrand et al. Each of these references discloses a bed or an examination table having side rails. See also U.S. Patent Application Serial No. unknown, filed herewith, to Weismiller et al. and entitled Chair Bed, the specification of which is herein incorporated by reference.
According to the present invention, a bed for supporting a person is provided, the bed having a head end, a foot end, opposite sides, and including a unique side rail arrangement. The bed has a frame and a deck supported on the frame, the deck comprising head, seat, and foot sections. A mattress is mounted on the deck to cushion the person. The mattress has an upwardly-facing support surface and head, seat, and foot portions corresponding, respectively, to the head, seat, and foot sections of the deck.
The head section of the deck and the mattress portion thereon are pivotable relative to the frame from a generally horizontal position through various positions upwardly to a back-support position. The foot section of the deck and the mattress portion thereon are pivotable from a generally horizontal up position through various positions downwardly to a generally vertically downwardly extending down position providing clearance for the lower legs of the person.
The bed further includes a pair of side rails on each side of said bed. Each pair of side rails includes a body section side rail mounted to move with the deck seat section. The body section side rail extends adjacent the deck head and body sections. Each pair of side rails also includes a head section side rail mounted to move with the deck head section relative to the body section side rail. The head section side rail extends adjacent to only the deck head section. Each side rail has a top and a bottom and is preferably maintained in a generally vertical orientation adjacent to the sides of the bed.
In preferred embodiments, the bed includes a base frame, an intermediate frame coupled to the base frame, a weigh frame coupled to the intermediate frame, and an articulating deck coupled to the weigh frame. The articulating deck has longitudinally spaced head, seat, thigh, and foot sections. The head, thigh, and foot sections are movable relative to each other and are movable relative to the seat section which is fixed relative to the weigh frame. The head, thigh, and foot sections are infinitely adjustable to allow the bed to attain any desired position within the range of movement of the head, thigh, and foot sections, thus accommodating changes of position of a person on the bed. The illustrative articulating deck can provide a planar, horizontal sleeping surface, a planar sleeping surface that is tilted toward either the head end of the bed or the foot end of the bed, and a non-planar chair-shaped seating surface, in addition to the intermediate positions therebetween. Further, as will be described in more detail hereinafter, the illustrative and preferred deck is a "step deck" in that it has an upper deck formed to include a central, longitudinally extending recess defined by a lower deck and side walls connecting the lower and upper decks.
The head section side rails are typically mounted to move with the head section of the articulating deck and move with the head section as the head section moves between the down position and the back-support position. The body section side rails are fixed relative to the weigh frame. The head section and body section side rails are on figured to maintain a between-rail gap of approximately 2-3 inches (5.1-7.6 cm) as the head section side rail moves relative to the body section side rail. Also in preferred embodiments, the head section side rails are shorter than the body section side rails and shorter than typical side rails making it possible for a person to enter the bed from the side using the head section side rail as a support and to properly position his or her hip on the sleeping surface.
The side rails are each movable between an upward patient-restraining position restraining the movement of a person supported on the sleeping surface past the sides of the sleeping surface and a downward tucked position. When in the patient-restraining position, the bottoms of the side rails are positioned to lie above the upper deck side portions and the side rails abut sides of the mattress. When in the tucked position, the tops of the side rails are positioned to lie beneath the upper deck side portions in a niche defined by the upper deck side portions and the side walls connecting the lower deck to the upper deck side portions.
When moving between the patient-restraining position and the tucked position, the side rails rotate outwardly and downwardly from the patient-restraining position away from the side of the bed, and then back inwardly and downwardly to the tucked position beneath the upper deck portion. The side rails trace the same path when moving from the tucked position to the patient-restraining position. The rotating mechanism, which holds the side rails in vertical orientations parallel to the side of the mattress through the entire range of movement, places the side rails against the sides of the mattress when the side rails are in the patient-restraining position, allowing for the provision of a narrower bed than would otherwise be provided, even though the mattress of the bed has a standard width.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bed with cooperating step deck and side rail features. The bed has a head end, a foot end, and two opposing sides, and comprises a frame and a deck carried by the frame. The deck includes an upper deck portion and a central, longitudinally extending recess in the upper deck portion. The recess is defined by a lower deck portion and walls connecting the lower and upper deck portions. The bed further includes a side rail coupled to the bed below the upper deck portion and positionable in a patient-restraining position above the upper deck portion and in a tucked position below the upper deck portion. When the side rails are in the tucked position, clearance between the side rails and the floor is maximized. The positioning of the side rails beneath the deck when in the tucked position also helps caregivers to improve the positioning of the person when moving the person in and out of bed.
The mattress of the bed includes a thin mattress portion engaging the upper deck portions along the sides of the deck and a thicker mattress portion in areas of the mattress that carry a greater portion of the weight of the person while the person is carried by the bed. As a result, the upper deck side portions are typically farther from the floor than the bottom of the step deck. This allows the side rails to be mounted farther from the floor than would be found on a bed without a step deck. This positioning provides additional obstruction-free space between the side rails and the floor for access under the deck, for example, for equipment such as a C-arm having portions above and below the deck.
In addition, when the side rails are in the patient-restraining position, the distance between the bottom of each side rail and the top of each upper deck portion is minimized when a step deck is used. The side rails are positioned above the deck and abut the side of the mattress. A bed having a conventional deck, a conventional mattress of uniform thickness, and side rails mounted at a height relative to the sleeping surface similar to that found in the bed of the present invention would also have the bottoms of the side rails further from the conventional deck than is found in the present invention, resulting in a larger gap between the bottom of the side rail and the conventional deck. Use of the step deck provides upper deck portions which are positioned to lie closer to the bottoms of the side rails, thus minimizing the gap between the deck and the bottoms of the side rails and minimizing the possibility of a person sliding through the gap.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a bed having a head end, a foot end, sides, and a breakaway side rail feature. The bed includes a deck having an elongated collateral deck member pivotably coupled to the deck for movement between an up position generally parallel to the first side of the bed and a generally vertically downwardly extending down-out-of-the-way position. A side rail is connected to and moves with the collateral deck member between the up position and the down-out-of-the-way position. In preferred embodiments, then, the side rail rotates between the patient-restraining position and the tucked position and also swings between the tucked position and the down-out-of-the-way position when the collateral deck member swings between the up position and the down-out-of-the-way position.
In preferred embodiments, such a bed comprises side rails on each side of the bed including head section side rails movable with the head section of the deck and body section side rails associated with the seat section of the deck. These side rails are movable from positions above the mattress to positions below the mattress. The bed can be configured so that the head section side rails can swing to the down-out-of-the-way position and the body section side rails cannot swing to the down-out-of-the-way position.
Each of these "breakaway side rails" swings from the tucked position, in which the top of the side rail is positioned to lie beneath the sleeping surface, to the down-out-of-the-way position, in which the mounting bracket and the side rail are positioned to lie vertically adjacent to the head end of the bed. When the breakaway side rail is in the down-out-of-the-way position, the caregiver's access to the portion of the bed beneath the step deck is maximized. This access can also be used to maximize the reach across the step deck of a C-arm carrying equipment such as X-ray photography equipment, the C-arm typically having portions of the equipment both above and below the step deck.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a bed for supporting a person, the bed having mechanical angle indicators uniquely mounted on the side rails. The bed has a head, a foot, and opposing sides and includes an articulated deck having a first side and a second side. A mattress having an upwardly-facing support surface with a first side and a second side is supported above the deck. A side rail is coupled to the side of the deck and is positionable in a patient-restraining position restraining the movement of the person supported on the bed past the side of the support surface. An angle indicator is connected to the side rail to indicate the angular orientation of the side rail relative to the floor.
In preferred embodiments, the articulating deck has a head section that is movable between a generally horizontal down position and an upward back-supporting position providing a pivotable backrest. The head section side rail can carry the angle indicator and can be connected to the head section side rail so that, as the head section pivots between the down position and the back-support position, the side rail and the angle indicator connected thereto also move. As the angle indicator moves, it provides indications that vary with the position of the head section. Placement of the angle indicator on the side rail thus provides a readily visible indication for the caregiver of the angular orientation of the angle indicator, and thus the position of the head section.
In addition, the deck can be supported by a frame that is supported above and movable relative to a base. The side rail can be coupled to the frame so that the side rail and the angle indicator move as the frame moves relative to the base. The angle indicator can be configured to provide indications that vary with the position of the frame. Having the angle indicator on the body section side rail provides a readily visible indicator for the caregiver of the position of the frame, and hence of the deck and the sleeping surface supported thereon relative to the floor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bed including unique side rail mounted controls. The bed has a head, a foot, and opposing sides. The bed includes an articulated deck having a first side and a second side and a mattress supported on the deck. The mattress has an upwardly-facing support surface, a first side, and a second side. A side rail is coupled to the side of the deck and the bed is further provided with a first plurality of first control buttons on a bed side of the side rail for use by a person in the bed. The bed is also provided with a second plurality of second buttons on an outside of the side rail for use by a person outside of the bed.
A display screen can be provided on one or both sides of the side rail. Preferably, the display screen is mounted to the side rail to pivot outwardly for easy viewing. For example, the display screen can be mounted to the outside of the side rail for use by a person outside of the bed and can be configured to pivot upwardly about a pivot axis adjacent to the top of the display screen. Such a display screen would allow for easy viewing of the display screen by a person standing next to the bed even when the side rail is in the downward tucked position.
Additionally, the plurality of control buttons on the bed side of the side rail can each have a face that is inclined with respect to a plane of the side rail toward the head end of the bed. This angling of the buttons allows for easy viewing of the faces of the buttons by a person lying on the sleeping surface of the bed.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a bed including a unique hip pivot guide. The bed has a generally planar bed position and is convertible to a sitting position permitting the person to egress from the foot end thereof. The chair bed includes a base and a deck mounted on the base and including at least head, seat, and foot sections movable relative to each other between a generally planar bed position and a raised sitting position. A mattress is mounted on the deck and has an upwardly-facing support surface and head, seat, and foot portions corresponding, respectively, to and moving with said head, seat, and foot sections of said deck. Indicia are provided on the platform indicating the position of the hip of a person on the patient-support surface in the planar position.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.